A strange recipe I know, but these crispy, salty, sweet and smokey pigs ears are incredible! I love challenging people out of their comfort zones with food, and recently did so with these at a dinner party. Reluctant to try them at first, my guests were all brave and needless to say, there were none left over!

Try the recipe, it is well worth it. This recipe is out of one of my favourite cookbooks “Duck and Waffle” by Daniel Doherty , and it is a compilation of recipes and dishes at the infamous 24/7 London Restaurant“Duck and Waffle”

The spice mix is also fantastic on chicken, lamb or beef.

Recipe

Serves: 6 as a snack

Day 1

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 3 hours

Day 2

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 4 minutes

For the pig’s ears

6 pig’s ears, washed

1 onion, peeled

2 sticks of celery

2 carrots, peeled

2 bay leaves

1 sprig of fresh thyme

10 peppercorns

Vegetable oil, for deep frying

Plain flour, for dusting

Sea salt

For the spice mix

60g smoked paprika

20g onion powder

20g garlic powder

40g table salt

60g light brown sugar

Day 1

Give the ears a good scrub in cold water. Place them in a saucepan and cover them with cold water. Bring to the boil, then pour off the water and transfer the ears to a clean saucepan. Fill with fresh, clean, cold water and add the whole vegetables, herbs and peppercorns. Slowly bring to the boil, skimming constantly. Once at the boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 3 hours.

Allow to cool in the cooking liquid, then lift out and place on a baking tray lined with grease proof paper. Place another sheet on top, and lay another tray on top of that. Place in the fridge, and put anything heavy you may have on top – this could be a few tins or a couple of plates. Leave overnight.

Day 2

Heat the oil to 180`C in your deep-fat fryer or in a heavy based saucepan.

When the ears are cold, they will be nice and firm; this makes them much easier to cut. Slice them as thinly as you can, aiming for 1-2mm thick, and dust with four. Shake off the excess and place in the fryer for 3-4 minutes, or until crisp. Be careful of any spitting fat here, and have a lid or splatter screen ready to slip on top of the fryer once the ears go in.

Keep an eye on the temperature of the oil, as it can sometimes drop when you add the ears. If it does, just tweak it up to 190`C so it regulates itself.

Remove from the fryer, place on a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain any excess oil, then transfer to a mixing bowl. Mix all the spice mix ingredients together. Add 2 teaspoons of the spice mix to the ears, shake them around until all of them are coated, and add a little sea salt too.

If you would like a copy of this fabulous book for yourself, you can find it at the Book Depository following the link.